"Why am I doing this?" Glenn Trevize asked It was an old question, one he had asked himself often since coming to Gaia.On cool nights, he would sometimes wake up from his sweet sleep, and the question would knock silently in his mind like a little bounce: Why did I do this?Why am I doing this? But until now, he finally made up his mind to ask Doom, an old man on Gaia. Doom is well aware of Trevize's anxiety, because he can perceive the structure of the senator's mind.But he didn't respond, because Gaia absolutely couldn't touch Trevize's heart, and the best way to resist this temptation was to be ruthless and ignore everything he felt.

"What do you mean, Choi?" Doom asked.It was hard for him not to use short abbreviations when talking, but that was okay, Trevize was getting used to it anyway. "The decision I made," Trevize replied, "was to choose Gaia as the blueprint for the future." "You're doing the right thing." Doom said as he sat there, raising his head and staring at the base guest standing in front of him with a pair of deep-set old eyes. "You mean I'm doing the right thing?" Trevize said impatiently. "I/We/Gaia know you can't make mistakes, that's why we're looking at you. You have a special knack for making good decisions with little information, and you've made your decision , and chose Gaia. You rejected the Galactic Empire based on the technology of the First Foundation, and the Galactic Empire based on the psychodynamics of the Second Foundation, because both are anarchic, and you judge that they cannot Long live, so you chose Gaia."

"That's right," Trevize said, "exactly! I chose Gaia, a superorganism whose entire planet shares one mind and common personality, so the pronoun 'I/We/Gaia' had to be invented, To express a concept that cannot be expressed at all," he said, pacing up and down. "Eventually it will develop into the Gaia galaxy, a super-super organism that encompasses the entire galaxy." He stopped abruptly, and turned to Doom abruptly, almost rudely: "I feel like you are right. But you are looking forward to the arrival of the Gaia galaxy, so you are very satisfied with this decision, and I do not welcome it wholeheartedly." It, so I can't easily believe that this is the right decision. I want to know why I made this decision, want to measure it, check its rightness, and then I will be satisfied. For me, just feel It’s not enough to be sure. How do I know I’m right? What mechanism makes me make the right choice?”

"I/We/Gaia also understand how you make the right decision. Now that you have made a decision, is it important to know why?" "You speak for the entire planet, don't you? You represent the collective consciousness of every drop of dew, every pebble, even the planet's liquid core?" "That's right. And it's not just me. On this planet, as long as the common consciousness is strong enough, all of them can speak on behalf of the entire planet." "So, is the whole common consciousness happy to treat me like a black box—as long as this black box works, and you don't need to look inside? I don't accept that. I don't like being a black box. I want to know What is the mystery in it, I want to know how and why I chose Gaia and the Gaia galaxy as the blueprint for the future development of mankind, only in this way can I feel at ease."

"But why do you dislike, or trust, the decisions you make so much?" Trevize took a deep breath, and slowly said in a deep and powerful voice: "Because I don't like being a part of a superorganism. This superorganism may abandon me at any time for the benefit of the whole. I don't want to become such a horrible person. A dispensable part." Doom looked at Trevize thoughtfully. "So, do you want to change your decision, Choi? You know, you can." "I very much hope to change this decision, but I can't just act on my own likes and dislikes. Before I take action, I must know whether this decision is right or wrong. Feeling alone is not enough."

"If you think it's right, then you can't be wrong." Doom's slow and gentle voice remained unchanged, which was in sharp contrast to Trevize's inner excitement, which made Trevize even more upset. After wavering between intuition and reason for a long time, Trevize finally broke free from this unsolvable struggle, and said in a weak voice: "I must find the earth." "Because it relates to an answer you desperately want to know?" "Because it's another issue that's been giving me sleepless nights, and I feel like there must be a connection between the two.

.Am I not a black box?Since I feel the two are related, isn't that enough to convince you to accept that fact? " "Perhaps," Doom said quietly. "If it is said that people in the Milky Way have been related to the earth for thousands of years—even tens of thousands of years, how can we completely forget this planet of origin?" "Twenty thousand years is longer than you can comprehend. We know very little about the early empires; many legends, almost certainly fictional, we repeat over and over again, even outright Believe it, because I found other information. And the history of the earth is longer than the empire."

"But some records must have been handed down. My friend Pelorat specializes in collecting myths and legends about the early earth, and he will never let go of any possible sources of information. That is his job, and it is his interest. Next time we will talk about The earth’s materials, only myths and legends have been handed down, and now there are no definite records or documents.” "Documents from 20,000 years ago? Everything will decay or be damaged due to improper preservation or war disasters." "But there must have been relevant records, such as copies, transcripts of copies, copies of transcripts of copies, which were less old, but equally useful, and yet they were all wiped out. The Galactic Library on Trantor It is reasonable to keep the relevant documents of the earth. In fact, these documents are also mentioned in other available historical materials, but they cannot be found in the galaxy library. The materials mentioning these documents may still exist, but all the citations They all disappeared."

"You should remember that Trantor suffered a catastrophe centuries ago." "But the library is safe and sound, and the staff of the Second Base have protected it very well. And not long ago, it was the members of the Second Base who discovered that the relevant materials on Earth had disappeared, and those materials were deliberately removed only recently. Going. Why?" Trevize stopped and stared at Doom intently. "If I can find Earth, I can find out what it's hiding—" "hide?" "It doesn't matter if it is hidden or hidden. I have a feeling that once I solve this mystery, I will know why I abandoned the independence of individuals in the first place and chose Gaia and Gaia galaxies. At that time, I think, I will Really knowing why your choice is right is no longer just a feeling. And if I'm right—" He shrugged resignedly, "let it go on."

"If you really feel that way," Doom said, "and feel that you must find Earth, then, of course, we will do what we can to help you. But there is only so much we can do. For example, I/We/Gaia I don't know where the earth is located in the vast galaxy composed of countless worlds." "Even so," Trevize said, "I must seek it—even if the endless stars of the Milky Way make my hope a needle in a haystack, even if I must go to the ends of the earth alone." Trevize was in Gaia's benign environment.The temperature here is always pleasant, and the breezy air is crisp without chills.There are a few clouds floating in the sky, occasionally blocking the sun.If the water vapor density on the surface somewhere outdoors drops too much, there will be a timely raindrop to replenish it.

The trees here grow very neatly, like an orchard, and the whole of Gaia must be like this.No matter the animals and plants on land or in the sea, they all maintain an appropriate amount and type to maintain a good ecological balance.Of course, the number of all kinds of creatures will fluctuate slightly around the "optimum", even the reproduction of human beings is no exception. As far as Trevize could see, the only thing that seemed out of harmony with the surrounding objects was his spaceship named "Far Star". Several human members of Ba Ya have cleaned up the Yuan Xing and completed various maintenance. The work has been done quickly and well.Sufficient food and drinks were added to the spaceship, all the furnishings that needed to be replaced were updated, and the functions of the mechanical parts were also checked. Trevize personally checked the computer carefully. The spaceship was one of the few force-driven vehicles at the base, drawing its power from the omnipresent force field across the galaxy, so it didn't have to add any fuel.The energy contained in the galactic force field is almost inexhaustible. Even if all the fleets are driven by it, until the day when human beings cease to exist, the strength of the force field will hardly decrease at all. Three months ago, Trevize was a councilor on Terminus.In other words, he had been a member of the Al Qaeda legislature, a prominent figure in the galaxy in terms of authority.Was this really only three months ago?He felt as if it was sixteen years ago, half a lifetime ago.At that time, his only concern was whether the great "Seldon Plan" really happened; whether there was really a pre-planned blueprint that would allow the base to slowly rise from a planetary village to the largest force in the galaxy. In some respects, the changes are actually modest.He still has the status of a member of parliament, and his original status and privileges remain unchanged.However, he believes that he will never return to Terminus and regain his former status and privileges.Although he was at odds with the orderliness of Gaia's small model, he also couldn't adapt to the huge chaos of the base.Although Yinhe is big, there is no place for him to stand. No matter where he goes, he is like an orphan. Trevize clenched his jaw, and angrily inserted his fingers into his black hair.Now is not the time to sigh and sigh, the urgent task is to find the earth.If the search came to fruition and he was able to get out of it, there was still time to sit down and cry slowly.Perhaps, then, there would be a better reason to do so. After resolutely hardening his heart, his thoughts began to drift back to the past—— He had left Terminus three months ago with Janov Pelorat, a learned and innocent scholar.Driven by a passion for antiquity, Pelorat is obsessed with unearthing the long-lost ruins of Earth.Trevize used Pelorat's exploration as a cover, but his real purpose was to find the goal in his heart.In the end, they didn't find the earth, but found Gaia by accident, and Trevize was forced to do it ignorantly. Now, the situation has changed 180 degrees - replaced by Trevize determined to find the earth. As for Pelorat, he also had an unexpected harvest.He meets Bliss, a young woman with black hair and dark eyes.Bliss is Gaia, and so is Doom—even a grain of sand and a blade of grass around him are all Gaia.Pelorat, who was about to enter his old age, fell in love with Bao Qisi, who was more than half his age, with the passion unique to this age.Strange to say, Baoqisi, a young girl, didn't seem to care about the age difference at all. It was an unusual relationship—but Pelorat was happy, and Trevize had to admit that everyone has a different way of finding happiness, which is one of the characteristics of being an individual.However, in Trevize's chosen galaxy, individual independence will be completely abandoned (after some time). Thinking of this, inexplicable pain resurfaced.The choice I made out of helplessness at the beginning has now become a lingering burden in my heart, and... "Glenn!" The call broke into Trevize's thoughts. He raised his head, looked in the direction of the sunlight, and blinked fiercely. "Ah, Janov," he answered in a earnest voice--a little too earnestly, for he did not want Pelorat to guess his distress, and even tried to look happy. "I think you must have made great efforts to break away from Bao Qisi." Pelorat shook her head.The breeze ruffled his silky white hair, and his long and serious face looked even longer and serious at the moment. "Actually, brother, she suggested that I come to you...to...to discuss something I want to discuss. Of course, it doesn't mean that I don't want to find you, but she seems to think of it before I do. thing." Trevize smiled. "It's all right, Janov. I thought you came to say goodbye to me." "Oh, no, not quite. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Grant, when we, you and I, left Terminus, my purpose was to find Earth. I spent nearly all of my It’s all spent on this job.” "I will continue, Janov, the job is mine now." "Yeah, but it's mine too, and it's still my job." "But—" Trevize raised his arm in a gesture, as if pointing at everything around him. Pelorat drew a sharp breath and said, "I will go with you," Trevize was really taken aback. "You don't mean it, Janov, you have Gaia now." "I will return to Gaia's arms in the future, but I can't let you go alone." "Of course I can take care of myself." "Don't be angry, Grenn, but you don't know enough. I know a lot of myths and legends, and I can guide you." "You're leaving Baoqisi? Don't be kidding me." Pelorat suddenly blushed. "I didn't mean to do that, old man, but she said..." Trevize frowned. "Is she trying to dump you, Janov? She promised me—" "No, you don't understand, please listen to me, Glenn. You really have a bad habit of jumping to conclusions before things are clear-I know, this is also your specialty. Uh, I always seem to I can't express myself clearly. But..." "Yeah," Trevize's tone softened, "Please tell me what Bao Qisi is thinking, and you can say it in whatever way you want, and I promise to listen very patiently." "Thank you. As long as you are patient, I think I can explain it right away. You know, Bao Qisi wants to go too." "Bliss is going too?" Trevize said, "No, I'm going to have another fit. Well, I'm not going to have a fit. Tell me, Janov, why is Bliss going with me? I'm speaking in a very calm tone." ask you." "She didn't say anything, just said she wanted to talk to you." "Then why didn't she come, huh?" Pelorat replied: "I think, I mean I guess, that she kind of thinks you don't like her, Grant, and that's why she doesn't want to approach you. I've done my best to assure her, old friend, that you're very kind to her." There is no hostility at all. I believe that anyone who sees her will only feel extremely fond of her. However... let's put it this way, she still wants me to bring this matter to you. Can I tell her that you would like to See her, Grant?" "Of course, I'll go see her right now." "You can be reasonable? You know, old friend, she's a little nervous. She said it's very important, and she must go with you." "Didn't she tell you why?" "No, but if she thinks she has to go, Gaia must go too." "That means I can't say no at all, doesn't it, Janov?" "Yes, I don't think you can refuse, Grant." During Trevize's brief stay at Paya, this was the first time he had visited the house of Bliss—now Pelorat's lair. Trevize looked around.On Gaia, the structure of the house seems to be very simple.Since there is almost no bad weather; since the temperature at this special latitude is moderate all year round; since even the crustal plates know how to slide smoothly and slowly when they have to slide, there is no need to add too many protective functions to the house, and there is no need to deliberately Create a comfortable environment to isolate the uncomfortable macro environment.In other words, the entire planet is like a big house that accommodates all its inhabitants. Baoqisi's house is an inconspicuous small building in this planetary house. There are only screens on the windows instead of glass, and the furniture is quite sparse, but it is elegant and practical.There are some full-text photos hanging on the surrounding walls, many of them are Pelorat's, and one of them has an expression of shock and shyness.Trevize couldn't help grinning when he saw it, but he tried not to let the smile show, and simply lowered his head to carefully adjust the belt. Bao Qisi stared at him, she did not smile as usual, but looked a little serious.A pair of beautiful eyes opened wide, slightly curly black hair draped over her shoulders like a black wave.Only the full lips with light lipstick brought a trace of blood to her face. "Thank you for coming to see me, Choi." "Janov looks very anxious, Baoqi Sinubia Yalila." Bao Qisi smiled lightly. "Excellent answer. If you'd like to call me Bliss, which is a good shorthand, then I'd like to try to call you by your full name, Trevize." She stuttered a little for the last two words, but almost Can't hear it. Trevize raised his right hand. "This is a very good idea. I know Gaians are used to calling each other by shorthand when exchanging messages, so I don't mind if you call me 'Cui' occasionally. However, I prefer that you Try calling me Trevize, and I'll call you Bliss." Trevize looked at her carefully as he did every time he met.Individually, she is a young lady in her early twenties; yet, as part of Gaia, she is thousands of years old.Although this cannot be seen from the outside, but sometimes from the way she speaks and the atmosphere surrounding her, some clues can still be seen.Does he want all sentient beings to become like this?No, of course not!But-- Bliss said, "Let me cut to the chase, you made a point of wanting to find Earth—" "I only mentioned it to Doom." Trevize decided to fight for his point of view, and would never give in easily to Gaia. "I know, but when you're talking to Doom, you're talking to Gaia and every part of it, like, talking to me." "Did you hear everything I said?" "No, because I didn't listen carefully. But if I pay attention afterwards, I can remember every word you said, please believe that. Let's go back to the original topic-you emphasized that you wanted to It is extremely important to find Earth and to persevere in it. I do not see the importance of it, but since you are gifted, I/We/Gaia must accept your word. If this mission and your choice Gaia has a big connection, then Gaia also thinks it is a huge task, so Gaia has to go with you, even if only to try to protect you." "When you say Gaia must come with me, you mean you must come with me, am I right?" "I'm Gaia." Bao Qisi answered very simply. "If everything and everything on this planet is Gaia, why you? Why not the rest of Gaia?" "Because Pei wants to go with you, if he goes with you, he won't like the rest of Gaia to go with him, and he will be happy only if I go." Pelorat was originally sitting on a chair in the corner without saying a word (Trevize noticed that the wall behind Pelorat happened to be a photo of Pelorat himself), at this moment he said softly: "This It's true, Grant, my Gaia is Bliss." Baoqisi suddenly smiled. "I'm excited that you think so. Of course, it's a rather novel idea." "Well, let me think about it." Trevize put his hands on the back of his head, tilted the chair back, and the thin chair legs rattled immediately.Immediately he realized that the chair was not strong enough for him to play this game, and he hastily returned the four legs to their original positions. "If you leave Gaia, will you still be a part of it?" "It depends. For example, if I'm in danger of being hurt, or have some other special reason, I can isolate myself so I won't be hurt. But that's just Limited to emergencies, usually I am a part of Gaia." "Even while we're doing the hyperspace jump?" "Even then, it was just more complicated." "I always feel like something's not quite right." "why?" Trevize wrinkled his nose, as if smelling something strange. "This means that every word and action in my spaceship, as long as it is heard or seen by you, is equal to being heard and seen by all Gaia." "I am Gaia, so everything I see, hear, and feel, Gaia sees, hears, and feels." "That's right, even the wall can be seen, heard, and felt." Bao Qisi looked at the wall he was pointing at, and shrugged again. "Yeah, that wall would do too. It's only a tiny bit conscious, so it has a tiny bit of feeling and comprehension. But I think, like what we're saying now, it's going to cause it to have some kind of subatomic level too." Shift, so that it can be more integrated with Gaia, and more beneficial to this big self." "But what if I want privacy? Maybe I don't want the wall to know what I'm saying or doing." Baoqisi seemed angry, and Pelorat quickly interjected: "You know, Grant, I didn't want to talk too much, because my understanding of Gaia is obviously limited. However, I have been with Baoqisi for a while now. Together, you can make some inferences. Let's just say that if you walk in the crowd of Terminus, you will see and hear a lot of things, and you will remember some of them. Afterwards, with the right brain stimulation, you may even Remember them all, but most of these things you don’t pay attention to, and you will forget them as you go. Even if you see some strangers performing emotional scenes, even if you find it very interesting, if it’s not about you, you will take it It's a windfall and quickly forgotten. It must be the case with Gaia, even if all parts of Gaia know what you're doing, it doesn't mean Gaia necessarily cares—isn't that right, Bliss my love? " "I've never thought of it that way, Pei, but there's some truth to what you're saying. However, what Trey—I mean Trevize—talks about privacy has no value in our eyes. In fact, I/we/ Gaia is really incomprehensible—not wanting to be part of the whole, to keep her voice from being heard, her actions from being exposed, her thoughts from being perceived by others—” Bao Qisi shook her head vigorously, “ I just said that in an emergency we can isolate ourselves from Gaia, but who would want to live like that, even for an hour?" "That's what I want," Trevize said. "That's why I must find Earth. I want to know what particular reason, if any, it is that prompted me to choose this terrible fate for the future of humanity." "It is not a terrible fate, but let us not argue about it any further. I am not going with you to spy on you, but to help you as a friend; To help you as a friend." Trevize said darkly: "If Gaia wants to help me, the best way is to lead me to Earth." Baoqisi shook her head slowly. "Gaia doesn't know where Earth is, Doom has told you that." "I don't really believe that. Anyway, you must have some records, but why have I never seen any records since I came to Gaia? Even if Gaia really didn't know where the earth was, I might find some from those records. Clues. I am quite familiar with the Milky Way, definitely more knowledgeable than Gaia in this area, and I may be able to decipher clues from your records that even Gaia may not fully understand." "What kind of record are you referring to, Trevize?" "Any records, books, films, films, full-length photos, artifacts, etc., as long as you have. Since I came to Gaia, until now, I have not found anything that can be regarded as a record-you What about Janov?" "No," said Pelorat hesitantly, "but I haven't really looked for it." "I've looked for it, secretly." Trevize said, "And I didn't see anything, nothing! The only answer I can think of is that someone deliberately hid those records. I feel very strange, Why? Can you tell me?" Bao Qisi's delicate and smooth forehead wrinkled, looking surprised. "Why didn't you ask before? I/We/Gaia don't hide anything, and we never lie. An isolated person - an isolated individual - may lie, because he is finite, so he is afraid ...However, Gaia is a planetary organism with great psychic powers and has nothing to fear, so there is absolutely no need for Gaia to lie or make up statements that are not true." Trevize snorted. "Then why do you deliberately not let me see any records? Give me a reasonable reason." "Of course." Baoqisi stretched out her hands, spreading her palms upwards. "Because we don't have any records at all." Pelorat came to his senses first, he seemed not as surprised as Trevize. "My dear," he said softly, "it's very unlikely that any decent civilization would be without records." Baoqisi raised her eyebrows. "I understand this, I'm just saying we don't have the records that Tre- Trevize was talking about or looking for. I/we/Gaia don't have any manuscripts, prints, film or computer databases of any kind, not at all, we There are not even stone carvings. Since none of these things exist, Trevize can't find any." Trevize asked, "If you don't have any records of what I call them, what do you have?" "I/we/Gaia have a set of memories, and I remember them all." Baoqisi said each word very carefully, as if talking to a child. "What do you remember?" Trevize asked. "Every single thing." "Can you remember all the references?" "certainly." "How long before and after? How many years ago can it be extended?" "Infinitely long." "You mean history, biography, geography, and science? Even local gossip?" "Including any information." "It's all in that little head?" Trevize pointed at Baoqisi's right temple with a mocking gesture. "Not really," she replied, "Gaia's memory is not limited to what's in my head. Listen," her expression became very serious, even serious: she's not just Bliss now. , which is also a mixture of Gaia's other singles. "Before there are historical records, human beings must have had a primitive period. Although human beings at that time could remember things, they could not speak at all. Later, human beings invented language as a tool to express memory, and memory can be communicated between people. Transmission. In order to record all kinds of memories and pass them down from generation to generation, words finally came into being. Since then, the development of science and technology has been to create more space for transmission and storage of memories, and to simplify the procedures for obtaining certain information as much as possible. However, when all the individuals merge into Gaia, those developments are all obsolete. We can go back to the most primitive memory, which is the most basic record-keeping system, you understand?" Trevize said, "You mean the sum total of all the minds on Gaia can remember more information than a single mind?" "certainly." "What good is it to you, a part of Gaia, if Gaia spreads all the records in planetary memory?" "There are so many benefits. Any information I want to know must be stored in someone's mind, or someone's mind. If it is very basic information, such as the meaning of the word 'chair', then every There will be in every mind. But even some very mysterious things only exist in a small part of Gaia's mind. If I need it, I can call it out at any time, but it will take a little longer than obtaining general memory. ——Listen well, Trevize, if you want to look up a piece of information that you didn’t know before, you will look up the relevant film books, or look up the computer database, and what I do is to scan Gaia’s whole mind .” Trevize said, "How do you keep information from flooding your mind from bursting your cranial cavity?" "Are you addicted to sarcasm, Trevize?" Pelorat said quickly, "Please, Grant, don't be annoying." Trevize glared at the two of them in turn, apparently trying to relax the tense muscles on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm overwhelmed by a burden that's been imposed on me, and I don't know how to get rid of it. Maybe that's why I don't sound very good, but it's never my intention. Po Qisi, I really want to know the answer. How can you access the memories in other people's heads without filling your own head so quickly?" Bliss replied, "I don't know, Trevize, just as you don't know the details of how your own mind works. I think you should know the distance from your sun to the nearest star, but you don't always remember it." This thing. You store this number somewhere, and whenever someone asks you, you can recall it at any time. If you don’t use it all the time, you may forget it over time, but you can always find it in a certain computer database. You can think of Gaia's mind as a large computer database that I can use at any time, but I don't necessarily have to deliberately remember the information I have used. After using a certain information or memory , I can make it disappear from my memory, in other words, make a special trip to put it back.” "How many people are there on Gaia, Bliss? How many humans?" "About one billion. Do you want to know the exact number?" Trevize gave a wry smile. "I know you can call the correct number if you want, but I know the approximate number is enough." "Actually," Bliss went on, "the population numbers have been fairly constant, always going up and down at a little over a billion. I can stretch my consciousness—well—to the edge of Gaia, check There is a gap between the current population and the average. I really can't explain it better to someone who hasn't shared our common experience with us." "But I don't think the minds of a billion people, many of whom are children, can't hold all the data a complex society needs." "But humans aren't the only creatures on Gaia, Choi." "You mean animals can remember?" "The memory density of animal brains is not as high as that of human brains, and whether human brains or other animal brains, most of the space is used to store individual memories, and those memories are of little use to planetary consciousness other than themselves .Nevertheless, there is still much higher data that can be stored in animal brains, plant tissues, and mineral structures." "Mineral structure? Do you mean rocks and mountains?" "There are also several types of data stored in the oceans and atmosphere, all of which are Gaia." "What can an inanimate system hold?" "Too much. For example, although the rock's memory capacity is low, but due to its large size, a large part of Gaia's full memory exists there. Since the rock's memory has a long access time, it is most suitable for storing some 'dead Information', that is, information that is rarely used in ordinary times." "Suppose a person with very important information in their brains dies, so what?" "The information in it will not be lost. After a person dies, when the brain tissue begins to disintegrate, the information will slowly squeeze out of the brain, and these memories have enough time to spread to other parts of Gaia. Every newborn has a new brains, these brains develop with age and not only develop individual memories and thoughts, but also absorb appropriate knowledge from other sources. What you call education, as far as I/us/Gaia is concerned, is completely automatic Spontaneous process." "Frankly, Grant, I think this living world is a concept that has a lot of merit," Pelorat said. Trevize glanced at the base fellow. "I agree with that, Janov, but I'm not very interested. No matter how big or diverse this planet is, it's still one mind, only one! Each newborn mind is fused with the whole, How can there be opportunities for opposing opinions to appear? If you look back at the history of mankind, you will find that although some people’s ideas cannot be accepted by society for a while, they can win the final victory and change the whole world. And in Gaia What chance is there for a great rebellion that will make history?" “盖娅也会有内部冲突。”宝绮思说：“并非盖娅每一部分都会接受共同的观点。” “但是一定有限，”崔维兹说：“在一个单一有机体内，不可能容许过多的骚动，否则就无法正常运作。在这种情况下，整体的进步和发展纵使没有完全停滞，步调也一定相当缓慢。我们能冒险将这种情形强行加诸整个银河吗？加在全体人类之上吗？” 宝绮思毫不动容地答道：“你是在质疑自己的决定吗？难道你已经改变主意，认为盖娅不适合做人类未来的典范？” 崔维兹紧抿着嘴唇，迟疑了一下，然后缓缓说道：“我很想这样做，不过——还不到时候。我所做的决定是有根据的——某种潜意识的根据。除非我找出它的真面目，我还不能决定要不要变卦。所以说，我们还是回到地球这个题目吧。” “你觉得在地球上，可以领悟到促使你做出那个决定的根据，对不对？” “我的感觉正是这样——杜姆说盖娅不知道地球的位置，我相信你一定同意他的看法。” “我当然同意他的话，我和他同样是盖娅。” “你有没有什么事瞒着我？我是指刻意瞒着我？” “当然没有。即使盖娅能说谎，也不会对你这么做。无论如何，我们得仰赖你所傲的决断，我们希望它正确无误，这就需要一切以事实为基础。” “既然如此，”崔维兹说：“就让我们利用你们的世界级记忆吧。往前回溯，告诉我你能记得多久以前的事。” 宝绮思茫然地望着崔维兹，迟疑了好一会儿，彷佛处于一种精神恍惚的境界。然后她说：“一万五千年。” “你为什么犹豫了一下？” “这需要些时间。陈旧的记忆——尤其是那些非常陈旧的，几乎都藏在群山的根部，要花点时间才能挖出来。” “一万五千年前？是不是盖娅刚创建的时候？” “不，据我们所知，那还要再往前回溯大约三千年。” “你为什么不能肯定？你，或者盖娅，难道不记得吗？” 宝绮思说：“当时盖娅尚未发展出全球性记忆。” “可是在你们仰赖集体记忆之前，盖娅一定保有些纪录，宝绮思。一般性的纪录——录下来的、写下来的、拍下来的等等。” “我想应该有吧，可是过了这么久，那些东西不可能还存在。” “也许会有副本，或者说，当全球性记忆发展成功之后，它们就被转移到那里去，如果真是这样就更好了。” 宝绮思皱了一下眉头，接下来又是一阵犹豫，这次持续的时间更久。“你说的那些早期纪录，我找不到任何踪迹。” "how so?" “我也不知道，崔维兹。不过，我想是因为它们看来不太着要。我猜，当这些早期的非记忆性资料开始腐坏时，就已经被认定是过时和没有用的了。” “你并不知道实情，你只不过在想、在猜罢了。可是你其实不知道，盖娅也不知道。” 宝绮思垂下眼睑。“一定是这样。” “一定是这样？我可不是盖娅的一部分，因此我不需要同意盖娅的看法——这是个很好的例子，让你知道独立性有多着要。我，身为一个孤立体，我有不同的看法。” “你的看法如何？” “首先，有一点我非常肯定，一个现存的文明不太可能毁掉早期的纪录。非但不会判定那些资料陈旧无用，还很可能过分珍惜着视这些资料，并且想尽办法保存。如果盖娅全球性记忆出现前的纪录被毁坏殆尽，宝绮思，这不太可能是自发性的行为。” “那么你要如何解释呢？” “在川陀那座图书馆中，有关地球的参考资料全被移走，主事者不知是何方神圣，反正不是川陀第二基地的成员。如此看来，盖娅上有关地球的参考资料，会不会也是被外力清除的？” “你怎么知道早期纪录提到了地球？” “根据你的说法，盖娅至少是在一万八千年前建立的。那是银河帝国尚未兴起的时代，当时人类正在大举殖民银河，而殖民者的主要来源正是地球。裴洛拉特可以证实这一点。” 突然听到被人点名，裴洛拉特有点惊讶。他清了清喉咙，“传说中的确是这样，亲爱的。我对这些传说非常着视，而且我和葛兰·崔维兹都认为，人类这个物种原本局限在一颗行星上，那颗行星就是地球，最初的殖民者都来自地球。” “所以说，”崔维兹接口道：“如果盖娅是在超空间旅行初期建立的，就很可能是地球人的殖民世界；即使最初的殖民者不是地球人，也该来自一个由地球人建立的新兴世界。因此，盖娅的开拓史，以及其后数千年的纪录，一定记载了和地球及地球人相关的史实，可是这些纪录通通不见了。似乎有什么神秘的力量，不让地球在银河的任何纪录中曝光。果真如此，其中一定有着大的隐情。” 宝绮思气呼呼地说：“这只是臆测罢了，崔维兹，你没有任何证据。” “然而盖娅一直坚持我有特殊的天分，在证据不足的情况下，我也能做出正确的结论。所以说，在我做出一个确切的结论之后，不要再说我缺乏证据。” 宝绮思沈默不语。 崔维兹继续说：“所以说，寻找地球也就更形着要。我想在远星号准备就绪后马上出发，你们两位还是要去吗？” “当然。”宝绮思不假思索立刻回答；“当然。”裴洛拉特也这么说。